Saturday, February 13th, 2010
The Times writes up another beloved neighborhood coffee shop facing — and, so far, surviving — some of the same financial woes that hit Vox Pop.
From the article on Bread Stuy:
So the coffeehouse — a so-called third place, beyond home and work, that the sociologist Ray Oldenburg has posited is crucial to developing a sense of place, civic engagement and democracy — offers an ever-dwindling opportunity “to share an experience in public,” Mr. Pendergrast said.
Coffee shops have become driving forces in gentrifying areas, with merchant groups and development advocates looking to establish cafes to seed other types of mom-and-pop activity.
In Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, a politically engaged coffeehouse called Vox Pop caused a minor sensation when it opened on Cortelyou Road in 2004, quickly becoming a symbol for what some saw as the neighborhood’s new cachet. It, too, has struggled financially in recent years, and it has managed to survive in part by selling shares to customers.
Jan Rosenberg, a sociologist and real estate agent who has been active in spurring commercial development in the neighborhood, helped lure an outlet of the small chain Connecticut Muffin nearby. Now she is looking for a cafe for Newkirk Avenue a few blocks away.
“It brings a flock of people to a street — everyone likes a good cup of coffee — and it gives them a chance to sit down and bump into each other,” Ms. Rosenberg said. “It’s simple, really, but if you don’t have that and you’re always getting the train to go to work and getting your coffee there, you don’t have those bump-into-someone experiences, and that’s important in a city neighborhood.”
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Food & Drink |
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
- Liena
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Food & Drink |
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
Vox Pop, Debi Ryan emails, is back:
Vox Pop will officially be open for business again tomorrow night for our New Year’s Eve Bash at 9 pm. How apropos to experience our new beginning right on the New Year!!
They’re still struggling to survive, however, and Debi hopes neighbors will be able to make it to a January 12 benefit show at the Jalopy Theater: “For one night only, some of the greatest blues musicians on this planet are coming together on the same stage to share one voice with a single purpose. To save one of the pillars in the foundation of a community. Calling themselves the Vox Pop Ultimate All Star Blues Extravaganza, Michael Powers, Bill Sims, Jr., Fred Scribner and Little Sammy Davis to name just a few (the line up just keeps growing) will be headlining. More bands to follow. Hosted by our very own Mike Fiorito, this promises to be one of the greatest blues shows ever. Tickets are being sold for a suggested donation of $25.”
WHEN: January 12th at 8 pm
WHERE: Jalopy’s
315 Columbia St.,
Brooklyn, NY 11231
And in one final bit of Vox Pop news, Ryan forwards an email from Vox’s founder, Sander Hicks, affirming that he has given up all his shares in the place. You can read it after the jump.
(more…)
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Food & Drink |
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Given that there seems to be an, er, certain amount of interest in the doings at Vox Pop, here’s Debi’s latest message:
We are sorry to say that Vox Pop is temporarily closed. If you need to contact us you can email debi@voxpopcafe.com or call 646-701-2162.
Gifts for the Secret Santa Gift Drive to benefit the local battered women and children’s shelter can be dropped off next door at the Tarot Card Reader space – 368 Stratford.
So, what happened? (more…)
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Community Event |
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Brokelyn’s headline: “New State-owned cafe in Ditmas Park.”
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Food & Drink |
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
There are reports of patrons being asked to leave and cops entering, and by the looks, the place is closed. Thanks, Josh, for emailing the image.
UPDATE: Not looking so good. Debi Ryan emails:
I need everyone’s help on this, Vox Pop is seriously in trouble.
As of this afternoon, Vox Pop was closed by NYS Department of Taxation and Finance for accrued back taxes, part of our legacy debt.
News 12 is coming to do a story on it TONIGHT at 6:30. We need to have as many community members/shareholders on hand as possible to demonstrate how important this space is to the community.
Please do try to come to show support by meeting in front of Vox Pop at 6:30 tonight and asking your friends and neighbors to do the same.
We can and will get through this! We have come too far, and become far to important a space to let it go now!
We will be in touch shortly with further details, but the most pressing need right now is a community show of support to help us get through this crises.
We are open to any and all suggestions.
I hope to see you all at 6:30!
- Liena
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Food & Drink, News |
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
Debi Ryan emails about a great holiday program:
Vox Pop Café is proud to announce we are sponsoring a Secret Santa Gift Drive to benefit the residents of a local domestic violence safe house. We would like to bring at least a small amount of joy to the approximately 27 women and 57 children who will be spending Christmas there.
I know this year has been hard for every one of us, but we all have something so basic that we take for granted; something these families do not have this holiday- a safe place, a home, a warm and welcoming family. I cannot imagine what it is like for these families and what brought them to this situation.
We will have a jar at Vox Pop Café located at 1022 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn, NY 11218 (718-940-2084) filled with cards, each representing one individual with their name, age, size and wish list. Please come, pick a card out of the jar. You can then purchase and wrap a selected item off their list and bring it back to Vox Pop by December 22. The gifts will be placed under shelter’s tree for Christmas morning.
I think that receiving a personalized gift this holiday season will really go a long way towards letting them know that someone cares about them as a person, an individual, and took the time to choose a gift just for them.
Thanks so much for participating in this gift drive. This holiday season let’s make a difference one person at a time.
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Community Event |
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
German Playgroup at VOXPOP – first Wednesday of the month from 3:30 pm on. (December 2nd, January 6th, February 3rd, March 3rd). From Rene:
Come join us for our next meeting of a playgroup for all German-speaking children and their parents or allies. You don’t have to be fluent but you should have an interest in your kid(s) keeping up with learning/speaking German. Children of all ages are welcome.
We are hoping to get German-speakers together once a month so the little ones are encouraged to speak and listen to ‘the other language’ having other German-speaking children and adults around, not just mommy or daddy. We can bring books and read or sing or just play. Any suggestions are very welcome!
Hope to see you there! Bis dann!
- Liena
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Kids |
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
- Liena
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Art & Music |
Monday, November 9th, 2009
Sustainable Flatbush’s Anne Pope passes on word of a reading Wednesday at Vox of interest to local gardeners, farmers, and eaters:
Tales of Squatting, Dumpster Diving, and other Urban Farming Pursuits: A Night with Novella Carpenter
Novella Carpenter raises pigs, rabbits, chickens, turkeys, and goats on squatted land in downtown Oakland. Her hilarious memoir, Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, tells the real story of what it takes to grow your own food in a city.
Copies of the book will be available for sale.
The reading is Wednesday at 7:00.
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Community Event, Green |
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
Debi Ryan of Vox Pop Cafe invites everyone to celebrate its 5th Anniversary this Saturday, November 7th at 1022 Cortelyou Road starting at 8 pm.
There will be great music throughout the evening as well as book readings and stories from the community at large about Vox Pop. Bring a story to share, say hi to your neighbors and friends, and help us move into the future even stronger!!
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Food & Drink |
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
The power is back on, and Debi Ryan emails:
We are getting ready for the best Halloween Party ever.
We have lots of things planned and fun decorations, including lots of candles.
Here’s the line up
Join us for an all out spooky fun day at Vox Pop. Costumes encouraged and candy for all the kids!!
Make Up by Anna Mitchell – Professional special effects make-up artist will do your makeup for a nominal fee to complete your costume
Tarot Card and Palm Readings by Miss Mary – available all day
3 pm – Miss Katie Children’s Sing-A-Long “Miss Katie” will have you and your children grooving and dancing at her interactive sing alongs. Katie sings and plays guitar, offering a mixture of new and old songs, and she gladly takes requests! Katie has been making music all her life and has been teaching preschool music in NYC for the last three years. Her sing alongs are a blast for preschoolers, but children of all ages will likely want to join in the fun
4 pm – Josh Rand Magic – Josh has looked to many mentors who have helped him develop both his technical and performing skills, and which allowed Josh develop his own fresh style of magic. Josh has also taught at several schools which has given him much experience with kids. Josh is an active member of the Society of American magicians.For nearly three years, he has worked at Tannen’s Magic shop, one of the oldest and prestigious professional magic shops in the United States. In 2006, Josh was honored by the magic community by being invited to the 4F invitation only close-up magic convention. He has appeared in magazines and newsletters including: MUM, the Linking Ring, Spellbinder, the SYMbol, The Murrow Network, and Snoochi news for which he co-founded and designed a magic section. Josh lives in Brooklyn, NY and is currently a business major at Brooklyn College.
5 pm – Kids Halloween Crafts
9 pm – Caught in Motion – Portland, Oregon quintet Caught in Motion are in constant search of the more honest, more personal pop song. Working to refine each others ideas, co-founders Banah Graf and Sam Krulewitch bore out a sound for their debut LP ‘On The Edge of a Dream’ more complete than either could manage alone: haunting atmospherics, poignant melodies, and an obsessive attention to detail fill each song to the breaking point between beauty and anxiety. Caught in Motion’s live act is executed with the same perfectionist precision the band was founded on, all the while fueling the audience with a stark honesty.
10 pm- Jake G and the Soul Company – Will keep you moving all night long!
Midnight – Adam Rinn Side Show Arts – He will shock and amaze!
Prizes for the Best Costume!! And a Zombie Brains Eating Contest!!!
- Ben
Tags: Halloween, Vox Pop
Posted in Food & Drink |
Friday, October 30th, 2009
It’s not, the guy there this morning told us, for the romance, but rather a dispute with Con Ed, which they hope to resolve today.
More details if we get them.
- Ben
Tags: utilities, Vox Pop
Posted in Food & Drink |
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
So it may be a bit obvious that we really like them, AND they are from the neighborhood, but in addition to playing tonight at Vox Pop, on Thursday night the Loom will be playing at Sycamore with Rescue Bird:
9 pm – Rescue Bird
10 pm – The Loom
(And if you can’t make these, try seeing them on Saturday night at Union Hall as part of a bill that also includes Mia Riddle, Pete and J, Pacific Theater, and La Strada.)
And as if all that were not a reason enough to spend a night listening to some neat music, John emails:
[T]his will be our last group of shows before we hole up in the studio for the month of November to record our first full-length album, so we’d love it if people wanted to come out this week as we won’t be playing again for a while and we’ll also be playing all of the songs from the forthcoming album.
- Ben
Tags: Sycamore, The Loom, Vox Pop
Posted in Art & Music |
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
8 pm – Animal Hands (http://www.myspace.com/animalhands)
9 pm – Frontier Ruckus (http://www.myspace.com/frontierruckus)
10 pm – The Loom (http://www.myspace.com/theloommusic)
11 pm – The Static Jacks (http://www.myspace.com/thestaticjacks)
Need we say more?
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Art & Music |
Monday, September 21st, 2009
Debi Ryan from Vox Pop:
We are busy making plans to celebrate our 5th Anniversary on November 7th. We would like to publish a book to commemorate this important occasion, but we need your help.
Please submit your Vox Pop story (up to 1,400 words) or photograph or drawing to voxpoppublishing@gmail.com for inclusion no later than October 1st. Come on, everyone has a Vox Pop story. What it means to you, something funny that happened here, someone interesting you met here, you get the idea. Become a permanent part of Vox Pop history.
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Art & Music |
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
I suspect some people will have strong opinions about this:
Hi. My name is Sander Hicks, founder and first CEO of Vox Pop Inc. the community coffeehouse company in Brooklyn, NYC. In the wake of our recent media exposure on CNN, etc. (see: http://www.sanderhicks.com/) I think it’s a good time to sell some stock in the company….
Vox Pop Inc. is more than just a coffeehouse, we have a community media empowerment model, through our “Publish Yourself” print-on-demand store, and our own book and newspaper publishing projects. Vox Pop has solid leadership and tight financial control in Debi Ryan. Vox Pop does have some debt, but she is managing it well. The company is practicing “communal capitalism.” We just raised $64K by selling stock to the local community. This is a whole new model. It will grow.
I just acquired 137 new shares for $100 a share. I would like to sell these at $100 a share. (I got a special price because of a debt the company owed me. No mark-up here.) This is quite a bargain: the shares used to sell for much higher, but we’re all in transition here in this economy. 137 shares amounts to about 2.6% of the ownership of the whole company.
I will pay a 4% commission to anyone who helps find a buyer. Some of the proceeds will be donated back to the company to pay back wages to former employees we lost in the recession. Some of the funds will help me start my next venture.
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Food & Drink |
Monday, July 20th, 2009
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Images |
Monday, July 20th, 2009
The Daily News has the full story on Lady Liberty’s trip from a Manhattan Restaurant One If by Land, Two if By Sea to Vox Pop as well as more pictures.
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Images |
Friday, July 17th, 2009
From Vox Pop’s Debi Ryan:
Vox Pop Café in Brooklyn, in conjunction with One If By Land, Two If By Sea restaurant in Manhattan, will be hosting Bringing Liberty Home on Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 1:00 pm. We will assemble at 17 Barrow Street, at the One If By Land, Two If By Sea restaurant.
The purpose of this event is to pick up the Statue of Liberty that has been given to Vox Pop from One If By Land, Two If By Sea restaurant to replace Vox Pop’s stolen statue. The 8 foot replica of Lady Liberty will be placed on a specially made dolly and walked from One If By Land, Two If By Sea located at 17 Barrow Street in the landmarked Aaron Burr carriage house, through lower Manhattan and over the Brooklyn Bridge.
This walk will symbolize the bridge between the two restaurants, the bridge between the two boroughs, the bridge between people working together for a common cause….
Everyone is invited to join us at this great event to Bring Liberty Home. Take a beautiful 2.5 mile walk through the village and across the Brooklyn Bridge and be part of this celebration of community….
If you are coming from Brooklyn, there will be a contingent of people meeting at Vox Pop Cafe, 1022 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn (718-940-2084) at 11:30 am to travel together to One If By Land, Two If By Sea.
- Ben
Tags: updates, Vox Pop
Posted in Food & Drink |
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
Debi Ryan emails with happy news in this weird, unsolved local crime:
At last some wonderful news about the Statue of Liberty. While many offers have come in from all over to replace our statue in one form or another, we have decided to accept the Statue that resided in the garden of the Village restaurant, One If By Land Two If By Sea, located at 17 Barrow Street in NYC. It was the support of one restaurant to another that resonated so strongly.
We are currently working out the details to have our new Lady transported here to Cortelyou Road and building the right base to display her properly and keep her secure. We are also making plans to refit her with a solar powered torch so that she can once again illuminate our neighborhood and serve as a beacon for freedom and democracy.
As soon as we have an exact date, I will let you all know. We plan to hold a rally of unity to welcome her to her new home. This is truly a cause for both reflection and celebration and any and all input is welcome and encouraged.
Our sincerest thanks to everyone for your ongoing support and love during this long and interesting journey.
- Ben
Tags: announcements, Vox Pop
Posted in Food & Drink |
Friday, July 10th, 2009
Reader Craig suggested that the missing Statue of Liberty be replaced by another beloved local icon: The Blue Gorilla of Gowanus (also known to the younger set as the American Monkey). It sits in back of a used car lot at the intersection of the Prospect Expressway and the BQE.
It has sadly, been replaced by a smaller, yellow monkey. No YouTube video to accompany its demise, however.
ALSO: Unrelatedly, CNN did a segment on Vox-as-capitalist-model. Things are getting confusing around here.
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in News |
Thursday, July 9th, 2009
Vox Pop’s Debi Ryan (last seen being interviewed by a TV crew) sent out a Facebook message this morning reacting to the bizarre statue story and clarifying some of the more alarmist bits of news reports:
As I am sure you have all heard by now, the Statue of Liberty that stood proudly in front of Vox Pop has been destroyed. The Statue was used in a disturbing video posted on You Tube. I am not sure why they chose our statue to perpetrate this crime, but a crime it is. It has been stolen and destroyed and used as a message of hate and this situation is being taken very seriously by our law enforcement agencies. Whatever their intent may have been, the outcome is clear. I have every confidence that the miscreants will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. While I believe in the right for everyone to say what they think, whether I personally agree with it or not, I do not believe they have the right to destroy someone else’s property to do it.
Vox Pop is a community owned coffee shop. We offer fair trade coffees and teas, organic foods, live music, poetry readings, independently published books and a gallery of local artist works. We strive to create a welcoming, open space for people to meet, relax and discuss the world around them. Our broad range of programming includes children’s story hour and movement classes, independent film screenings, workshops on sustainability and meditation and even bicycle repair. I am saddened that they chose to target our neighborhood space.
In spite of what you may have read, I am not in fear for my life, I do not feel personally targeted and I don’t believe it was trying to shut us up. If they were targeting what we represent, then I guess they were targeting community. Because, to me, that is what Vox Pop represents. And I for one will not let this incident change that. I loved that statue, and I will miss her gracing our garden, standing for our Liberty and our freedom to be whomever we choose to be. While she may be gone, what she symbolizes is still alive and well at Vox Pop.
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in News |
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
Well, this just got really bizarre — though it’s pretty unclear to me exactly what’s going on here:
A replica Statue of Liberty swiped from a Brooklyn coffee shop has turned up in a shocking YouTube video that shows it blindfolded, beheaded and then smashed to pieces.
The slogans “We don’t want your freedom” and “Death to America” float across the screen in the chilling clip – reminiscent of real terrorist videos.
The NYPD’s computer sleuths are investigating who posted the video. They could call in the FBI if they feel it’s more than a sick joke, sources told the Daily News on Wednesday.
The manager of Ditmas Park’s Vox Pop – known as much for lefty politics as java – said she couldn’t sleep after watching the footage.
“I’m scared. I’m hoping I don’t have to fear for my life but I feel very nervous,” Debi Ryan said.
“This was clearly politically motivated. Whoever did this is trying to shut us up. They were targeting what we represent.”
The 8-foot fiberglass figure vanished June 21 from the sidewalk in front of the Cortelyou Road coffeehouse. A $250 reward and “Find Liberty” rally failed to spark its return.
The YouTube clip, dated July 4, was sent anonymously to the Daily News on Tuesday and to Ryan the next day.
“Liberty is the holy masquerade of the decapitated, so we decapitated it in the struggle for a truly free unity,” the vandal wrote in the email.
The minute-long clip, titled “Liberty Vox Pop Death,” opens with the American flag followed by a scene of Lady Liberty blindfolded.
A gloved hand is shown sawing off the head off and bashing the head with a baseball bat. The screen flashes the message: “We don’t want your freedom.”
The video ends with a black-clad faceless vandal grabbing the smashed head by the crown and holding it up to the camera before the message, “Death to America.”
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in News |
Friday, June 12th, 2009
From the Wall Street Journal, no less, on “unique ways entrepreneurs are raising money”:
The credit crunch has undoubtedly put the squeeze on small businesses. Bankruptcies within this group hit 7,514 in May, up 40% from a year ago, according to Automated Access to Court Electronic Records, an Oklahoma City bankruptcy data and management company. Despite those numbers, there are plenty of entrepreneurs who refuse to throw in the towel. Instead they’re coming up with creative ways to keep their companies afloat.
When Brooklyn coffee shop owner, Debi Ryan, was faced with the possibility of shutting her doors, she appealed to her neighbors, asking them to become mini venture capitalists and invest in her business. As a result, she just hosted a grand re-opening. Instead of taking a loan or seeking venture capital funding, entrepreneur Paula Conway managed to pay for the launch of her travel web site with money she made selling — of all things — cupcakes.
Taking such unconventional routes to raise cash has become a necessity for many small-business owners as traditional sources of funding (i.e., venture capital and bank loans) have dried up, says Peter S. Cohan, president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture-capital firm in Marlborough, Mass. In the first quarter of 2009, venture-capital firms raised 40% fewer funds (a total of $4.3 billion) than a year ago, according to Arlington, Va.-based trade group National Venture Capital Association. “The businesses that are going to survive are getting creative about raising as much money as they can,” says Cohan.
Here are five businesses that are doing just that:
Turning neighbors into investors
Vox Pop a café and bookstore in Brooklyn, N.Y., now has 144 new investors — and they all live in the neighborhood.
In January, Vox Pop’s CEO, Debi Ryan, received notice that the Department of Health would pull the store’s license to serve food and beverages unless it paid fines tallying $33,000 — an amount that would force the shop to fold. The fines, which resulted from such infractions as baristas drinking coffee behind the counter and not having a manager on duty at certain times, originated in 2007 but soon escalated when the store failed to pay them, says Ryan, who took over the shop just two weeks before the Health Department issued its notice.
Instead of giving up, Ryan turned to the local community for help. Two town hall meetings and almost three months later, Vox Pop raised $64,000 from local investors. “It’s great,” says Ryan who celebrated the store’s grand re-opening in May. “Now they can say ‘That’s my coffee shop’ and mean it.”
- Ben
Tags: Vox Pop
Posted in Food & Drink |
